Penn State hoops noncon slate provides runway for revamped group

Penn State basketball coaches and players have wrapped their eight-week summer access period, dispersing until fall semester classes resume on Aug. 22. And in that time, head coach Micah Shrewsberry acknowledged his heightened anticipation for what might be possible ahead of the 2022-23 season.

The Tuesday morning release of the Nittany Lions’ nonconference schedule offers a glimpse at his good reason behind it.

Welcoming eight new scholarship pieces into the program this offseason, three graduate transfers and five true freshmen, Penn State will face a manageable, but sturdy, slate of opponents before getting into the bulk of its Big Ten schedule. 

Penn State nonconference schedule (home games in bold):

Nov. 7 – Winthrop

Nov. 10 – Loyola

Nov. 14 – Butler

Nov. 17 – Furman (Charleston Classic)

Nov. 18 – TBA

Nov. 19 – TBA

Nov. 25 – Lafayette

Nov. 29 – at Clemson (B1G/ACC Challenge)

Dec. 18 – Canisius

Dec. 22 – Quinnipiac

Dec. 29 – Delaware State

(Penn State will face two TBA Big Ten opponents in December ahead of its Canisius matchup. The Nittany Lions will be off for final exams between Dec. 12-16.)

Breaking down the Penn State noncon schedule

A look at the final NCAA NET rankings from the 2021-22 season offer at least something of a barometer for what to expect from Penn State’s nonconference schedule. 

There are a few items of note before getting into those rankings. The first is that of 11 nonconference games, only an ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup with Clemson stands as a true road game. Three neutral-site matchups are on the docket with the Charleston Classic in November, beginning with a test against Furman. The winner of that matchup will face the winner of Old Dominion/Virginia Tech, with the losers also meeting. Each of the eight participating programs is guaranteed three games in the tournament, with Colorado State, South Carolina, Charleston, and Davidson rounding out the other side of the bracket.

Final ’21-22 NET rankings of Penn State’s nonconference slate:

Winthrop 147

Loyola 260

Butler 117

Furman 82

Lafayette 319

Clemson 81

Canisius 252

Quinnipiac 231

Del State 357

(Other possible Charleston Classic matchups: Va. Tech 22, ODU 201, CSU 35, USC 93, Charleston 144, Davidson 46)

New-face runway

Though core contributors from last season return in Jalen Pickett, Seth Lundy, and Dallion Johnson, Penn State’s influx of talent this offseason has naturally left a learning curve for much of the program. Shrewsberry acknowledged as much this summer but highlighted the benefit of having standard-setters already on the roster for the new players to model after.

“It’s hard for freshmen. I’m just throwing a lot of stuff at them. I don’t do a lot of explaining all the time and I still expect you to know it,” Shrewsberry said in July. “So their heads are spinning. But they’re doing a great job. 

“They’ve each had great moments in practice because they all bring something different to the table and it shines. Right now, they’re thinking too much. But there are times when they’re not thinking, they’re playing off instincts, and then the basketball side of it comes out that you want to see. I’m excited about those guys being here. They push these older guys. There’s no doubt about that.”

In Cam Wynter, Andrew Funk, and Mikey Henn, though, the Nittany Lions also added a trio of older guys to aid in that process.

Expecting to boast more depth than his debut season at Penn State, Shrewsberry added that having a 1,600-point scorer in Wynter and a 1,200-point scorer in Funk, to go along with a couple of high-volume scorers in Pickett and Lundy has created an opportunity to change the offensive identity of the program this offseason. 

As a result, Shrewsberry is eager to see what can be accomplished with his revamped group.

“We should have optimism in terms of what we’re doing. That’s what I’m building towards,” Shrewsberry said. “Now. I still say at the same time, we haven’t accomplished anything. Playing hard is not accomplishing anything. Going 14-17 is not accomplishing anything. How we went about it, yeah, it was cool, and we played close games, but I want to win them. And I want those expectations to be that every single year. 

“Nobody puts more pressure on this program or more pressure than I do myself. So I love the optimism of everybody because they’re so excited about basketball, which you should be. I want them to be because I want to make sure that we continually put a product out there that people are proud of and people want to come to see because they want to root for the kids in our program. They want to see us compete at a high level. So that’s what I’m excited about. That’s what I like.”

Beginning on Nov. 7 against Winthrop, Penn State basketball will have that opportunity.